Dear brothers and sisters,

Word of God for the week: Mark 1:12

“The Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness and he remained there for forty days, and was tempted by Satan.”

Lent notices:

· Lenten groups for men and women have started: please keep them in your prayers.

· At the urging of the pastoral council, this Lent as a parish we will be supporting the Aid to the Church in Need appeal to support Christians in the Holy Land.

· There will be stations of the cross 7pm the Fridays of Lent, and 10am Good Friday.

New donation options

Less and less people use cash.  There are at least three options for people to electronically support the parish’s care of the poor, as well as the basic Catholic necessities we all need:

1. Direct debit: simply fill in the form and give/email it to the parish secretary.  This is a crucial way of assisting the parish as it helps us budget: please seriously consider this option.

2. Tapping your card on a reader in the church: our new ones now give more options.

3. Making a donation through the parish website.

Thank you for your very generous gifts: may the Lord bless you for your thoughtfulness.

Eschatology conference

There are a number of wonderful unique things about our parish.  One of these happened last week.  At the University of Notre Dame Conference on Eschatology – the last things and end times – three parishioners gave a paper.  We can have the impression that secular culture is so intellectually dominant compared to the Church – but in reality, while there are many true things in it, much postmodern thought is empty, lost, anxious, irrational and self-destructive compared to the rationality, peace, love and flourishing of Christian thought.  So don’t be intimidated by it – there is not much there!  The papers given can be summarised as follows:

Sr Susanna OP: “Reading Scripture in light of the Book of Revelation”

The Book of Revelation unveils the goal which all of history and divine revelation are striving towards. With this in mind, we can learn from the Heavenly Jerusalem (ch. 21) how to hold two essential truths in fruitful tension: God’s promises are unshakable, and He chooses to bring these promises to fulfillment through fallible human instruments.

Sr Anastasia OP: Proclaiming the Resurrection in an Age of False Eschatologies

Rather than holding Christian belief about the last things – death, judgement, heaven, and hell –  many people in our time are not sure that there is a next life and are more focussed on perpetuating this earthly life through such philosophies as transhumanism. It is important to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus and the final resurrection of our own bodies to demonstrate the great hope there is for the next life, and the importance of attending to the needs of this world in preparation for that.

Fr Josh: “Michel Foucault and Saint John Paul II on Death.”

The philosopher thinks that once a person dies they are annihilated.  The pope thinks that death is a step into an ever deepening blossoming of the human person for the rest of eternity.  Both agree that considering one’s death is useful, and that even death shows we are connected to each other. But because Foucault concludes it is good to destroy ourselves, maybe John Paul’s theology is far healthier for our young people than Foucault.

Change re electronic bulletins

Following consultation with the pastoral council, we will no longer be emailing out the parish bulletin.  This will save the parish secretary time, as well as reduce parish costs.  The bulletin will be still available to download from the website.  We are considering social media options.

Yours in Our Lord,

J+